Your Training Experience

EAST SCITT is school centred training, so trainees will generally spend 20% in training and 80% in schools.

During 100% of your time with us we will support you with:

Planning, preparation and assessment of lessons

You will be given plenty of training and guidance on how to plan and deliver lessons as well as how to assess pupil work, in both central training and mentor meeting. Increasingly you will take personal ownership using the skills and knowledge you will have learnt. To acquire Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) you will be supported to think critically about your practice and to reflect on your development. Assessment is formative and provide you with small, incremental steps to enable your practice to improve over time.

Setting and maintaining a heathy work/life balance

The life of a teacher is demanding, but it is also really enjoyable and rewarding. Throughout the programme we will live by this philosophy and show you practical ways to ensure you maintain a healthy work/life balance. Please see our wellbeing page for further details.

THE TRAINING CURRICULUM:

Developing your knowledge and enabling you to apply what you’ve learnt

EAST SCITT’s curriculum is carefully sequenced to support your development as a teacher. Our training is informed by credible research and underpinned by academic reading. Taught topics are linked to your placement experiences so that you are enabled to apply what you have learnt to shape your practice. Our curriculum includes opportunities to revisit and broaden your knowledge as the training progresses, ensuring the development of a deep understanding of subject and pedagogy.

Full Cohort Training Sessions

Every week the full cohort of trainees will be brought together for training led by an expert in aspects of education such as, Behaviour Management, Lesson Planning and Safeguarding and Child Protection. The first two weeks of the programme will be entirely spent in this way.

Subject Knowledge Development

You will be with all of the secondary trainees in your subject, for a minimum of eight training sessions throughout your training period. These sessions will be led by the most expert practitioners who will oversee the development of the knowledge and practice you need in your specialism. Your subject knowledge development is supported by your mentor, subject lead and SCITT tutor and all training will always have a subject specific focus.

Intensive training practice

Four intensive training practice weeks are spaced throughout the course. These provide opportunities to for in-depth focus on key elements of teaching and learning as well as the chance to apply the theoretical to practice and try out strategies in a supportive environment.

Support

At all levels of your training you can call upon the support of, your EAST SCITT tutor, your placement school mentors, your subject mentor, a senior member of staff in your placement school, your subject lead and the leaders of EAST SCITT. You need never feel alone!

Intervention – Changing the life of an individual

Your training period is an ideal time to take the opportunity to provide special support and guidance to the most disadvantaged pupils. For example, pupils with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND). This will give you tremendous insight into how you can develop the learning of all pupils.

When in school you will experience:

Staff meetings

In placement schools, you will be expected to attend meetings alongside your colleagues. This will include staff briefings which are short meetings for staff at the beginning of the school day. It is invaluable to attend these to hear crucial information and to understand the ethos of the school.

Form Time

In all schools there will be time at the start of the day when a register is formally taken and the welfare of the students is checked. Depending on the age range, Primary, Secondary and Post-16, there will be a range of activities developing the students as citizens. This is the perfect time to get to know the young people you are responsible for as human beings and to help them develop.

Teaching

Your teaching timetable will increase incrementally. In the early part of the programme you will be observing, supporting and co-teaching classes. As you progress, you will be increasingly responsible for your classes, teaching them in your own right. We deliberately take a stepped approach so that you are secure in your knowledge and confidence of effective teaching and learning.

Mentor Meetings

Every week you will meet with your mentor to review and further develop your progress. Your mentor will be a teacher, expert in your subject and/or age range.

Extra Curricular / Duties

The more you immerse yourself in the life of your placement school the more you will enjoy the experience and the more you will learn about the community you have joined. This might include being on playground duty, running a club, supporting sports or arts events, or being part of school trips.